Hi everyone, this week’s post is an enchanting non-fiction book I found quite by chance fairly recently. When you see the word “Map” I know you’ll probably think, ‘Oh no, it’s some weird atlas’ but rest assured this is not any ordinary atlas. This, my friends, is a book created by writers and illustrators of the world’s they create in their books. So, I hope to see you below to read my review…
Title: The Writer’s Map: An Atlas of Imaginary Lands
Editor: Huw Lewis-Jones
Genre: Non Fiction – Literary
Publication details: Thames & Hudson Ltd, London, 2018
ISBN: 9780500519509 (Hardcover)
What this book is about: If you think of a map that shows you the best routes to create a journey, then you’re thinking on the right path. This book is filled with maps that take you on journeys into lands that have been created inside books. Between the pages of The Writer’s Map, readers will find maps that transport them to magical worlds and beyond. A team of acclaimed writers and illustrators share their personal insights, encompassing not only the maps that appear in their books, but also the maps that have inspired them and the sketches they create in writing. Amidst a cornucopia of beautiful images, including unpublished sketches by authors, there are maps of the world as envisaged in medieval times, maps from classics of literature and childhood stories, as well as maps of adventure, sci fi and fantasy, from Atlantis to Westerns, Narnia and Utopia, from Mercator to Tolkien – a great range of genres and makers. An enchanting visual and verbal journey, The Writer’s Map will be irresistible for lovers of maps, and also for anyone who likes to get lost in a good book.
Contributors include: Philip Pullman, Cressida Cowley, Robert Macfarlane, Frances Hardinge, Joanne Harris, David Mitchell, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Piers Torday, Helen Moss, Abi Elphinstone, Miraphora Mina, Daniel Reeve (NZ), Reif Larsen, Russ Nicholdosn, Isabel Greenberg, Brian Sibley, Roland Chambers, Coralie Bickford-Smith, Peter Firmin, Lev Grossman, Sandi Toksvig, Brian Selznick & Huw Lewis-Jones.
My review: This arm-length sized read had me captivated until the very last pages. A compendium of essays by some prominent writers and designers on the maps they’ve made and maps they were inspired by. The Medieval maps included are stunning to say the least. Every page had some small image that would drive the dormant cartophile in me to laugh, sigh and cry at times. I loved every single page and some. When I read the part where Helen Moss tells of how she came up with the Adventure Island series to be a combination of ‘Rupert Bear meets the Famous Five’, I almost screamed because it was exactly what had crossed my mind!! One of the most memorable parts was Chris Riddell’s bit towards the end where he speaks of the importance of books and libraries which I loved above all. He speaks of how much the librarians influenced him in his early life and the impact the books he’s read made on him.
Best quote: “Librarians are amazing people: they love turning children into readers by teaching them one of the most important life skills you can acquire, which is reading for pleasure….That’s why libraries are so important.”
My rating: 5 ⭐
Miss Mahee's Library of Reads 